A News Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter/publisher Doug Draper
Posted July 10th, 2026 on Niagara At Large
I would bet every drop of water rushing over the Horseshoe Falls every single second of the day that there was at least one Niagara Parks Commission representative at the town hall Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates hosted this past Monday, July 6th at the Club Italia to address Doug Ford’s controversial plan to have a giant ferris wheel built on Queen Victoria Park lands near the brink of the Horseshoe Falls.
One amazing turn out at a town hall. photo courtesy of the Constitiuency Office of Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates
And if I am right, I am also willing to bet that this same Niagara Parks representative would have gone right back and told the Doug Ford-appointed Chair of Niagara Park’s board, Graham Coveney, something like; “Wow, you should have seen it. There were more than 700, if not a thousand people packing that town hall meeting and they don’t want a huge ferris wheel built on greenspace near the Falls. …
“And they are angry as all hell that Niagara Parks has not consulted with the public on this grotesque plan and that it has not already come out and made it clear to Ford that it violates everything the Parks Commission is supposed to be standing for since its founding in 1885 – to protect and preserve the Falls and the natural beauty of the greenspace along the Niagara River corridor.”
The fact that this outrageous plan for a gargantuan amusement park ride and any RFP (request for proposal) that goes with it have not been completely dumped yet makes one wonder if the current higher ups in Niagara Parks take the mandate they are supposed to uphold seriously or whether they are more programmed to serve Doug Ford and whatever special interests he may be doing business with.
Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates and panel of speakers at town hall meeting
The fact that this plan and the RFP have not already been buried “raises serious questions” about the “judgement,” the “courage,” and the “leadership of the (Niagara Parks) Commission.” said Tim Johnson, current president of the Niagara Academy for Indigenous Relations at the town hall meeting.
“It is shocking that the Niagara Parks Commission, without any public consultation, or without a transparent vote, issued a request for proposal for Ford’s latest fantasy project,” added Liz Benneian, a Niagara resident and chair of the citizens coalition Biodiversity and Climate Action Niagara, who was also invited to speak to appear as a panelist at the town hall.
“The land entrusted to Niagara Parks and the entire Niagara River Corridor is an ecologically significant area, part of Canada’s most biologically diverse and also most threatened ecosystem, the Carolinian Zone,” Benneian said. “It is an area that has been recognized with many significant designations including as a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. As well, the Niagara River Corridor is recognized as a Globally Significant Important Bird Area and it contains designated Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest.
Substantial changes to such a globally significant ecological area in a globally significant space in the Niagara Parks system, should not be pushed forward on the fanciful whim of any one premier,” she concluded. “Premiers and their parties come and go, but the Niagara Parks System is a global treasure and (Niagara Falls Mayor Jim) Diodati and his fellow Niagara Parks Commissioners have been entrusted to keep it safe, not just for the enjoyment of Niagara’s citizens and the millions of tourists who visit our region every year, but for future generations.”
By the way, why wasn’t Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati, who holds a seat on the Niagara Parks Commission board, at this town hall meeting?
Why wasn’t he there to stand up and tell this large group of Niagara citizens, many of them living in his own municipality, what he said in recent days to members of the mainstream press – that he didn’t believe this ferris wheel plan had a chance of surviving? Why wasn’t he there to declare opposition to this plan himself?
Was he – and is he still – afraid of offending Doug Ford, who he used his mayor’s position to endorse in last year’s provincial election?
I would not listen to a word that the likes of Ford-pandering minions like Diodati have to say about this awful plan for greenspace near our precious Horseshoe Falls.
I would listen to Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates who told those at the town hall meeting ‘not to take their foot off the peddle until the RFP (for this terrible assault on one of our country’s most beautiful natural places) is pulled.’
Meanwhile, maybe we should all ask why we have some among us, including our current Ontario premier, who can’t seem appreciate the wonder of natural settings without wanting to junk them up in one way or another?
Why, in the third decade of the 21st Century – more than 50 years after the first Earth Day – do we still have people like this serving in positions of power?
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Doug Draper, Niagara At Large
The town hall meeting again. Few issues in recent times in Niagara have pulled out such a large audience of Niagara residents.
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